Unfinished Lullaby
by Splash of Blue
Summary: It's 1981, and a group of young people are caught up in a race against time to stop Voldemort from murdering the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff heirs before he becomes all-powerful... A certain green-eyed redhead knows what to do, but she's afraid to do it.


A/N: This is a sequel to my fic _Hogwarts: The True Story_ and prequel to _The Marauders' Return_, and takes place several years after the Marauders have graduated Hogwarts, when they're twenty-one: the year Lily and James died. Also, there are thirteen Marauders (not just four), and they ALL became Animagi when they discovered Remus' lycanthropy. I am also well aware that Minerva McGonagall did not go to school with Lily, James and Co., but I don't care. She's such an interesting character, I wanted to include her. 

May well be edited after completion. _Get Off My Back_ lyrics by Bryan Adams. 

One point: although most British kids called their parents Mum and Dad, some Welsh children call them Mam and Da, derived from the Welsh. Since 'Evans' (Lily's maiden name) is Welsh (as am I), I thought it'd make sense that Lily herself would be Welsh. Also, the people of Wales have a lot of rivalry with the English for historical reasons, although now it's mostly just joking, hence Lily's comment about being ashamed if she was to be killed by an Englishman. 

Unfinished Lullaby 

Part 1: Swan Song
_Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,__  
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before _
_ -Edgar Allan Poe _

"Lily, Lily, I've got the most amazing news!" A mini-whirlwind in the form of twenty-one-year-old Monique James burst into the room, chocolate-brown curls rampant and blue eyes flashing. Lily Evans- Potter turned to her best friend and bandmate, careful to hide her anxious expression. 

"Well, what is it?" she asked impatiently. 

"We've made number one- in six countries at once! It's a world record!" Monique grinned up at her. 

"Monique, that's wonderful! Do the others know?" Lily gasped, her previous conversation flying out of her head; their six-girl band, Devil's Touch, had had rave reviews the world over, but nothing compared to this. Monique shook her head. 

"Not yet; there's something else I wanted to tell you and James first: I'm- I'm eight weeks pregnant!" 

"What, you mean you haven't told Sirius?" grinned James Potter. "He's gonna go crazy! Is it a boy or a girl?" Monique was his best friend's long-term girlfriend, a fact made all the more incredible by the fact that, though by no means ugly, Monique was a petite, elfin brunette, more striking than pretty, totally unlike the curvy, long-legged blondes Sirius had always preferred to date- for a week or so anyway, rarely longer than a month. But they'd been going out for nearly eighteen months now- an all-time record- with Sirius showing no signs of getting restless. 

"It's a girl, and of course I've told Sirius, you nitwit! Can you imagine: Sirius Black, world-class girl-magnet and all-around trouble as a _father_? Responsible, no less?" 

"I heard that!" came a voice from the doorway. "And I am _not_ trouble! Well, not always, anyway." Sirius' puppy-dog brown eyes made him look the picture of wounded innocence. Smiling, Lily shook her head, red waves dancing. 

"Ooh, you poor baby," she cooed. Mockery had always been a big part of the Marauders: teasing Snape and Malfoy's gang, teasing the teachers, teasing each other, always. "Have you thought of a name yet, Monique?" 

"Well, Sirius wants Siria, of course, but I've sat on that one: can you imagine the poor dab named after a country, for heaven's sake? I like Tanith, myself, with Tansy for short- it's an old Welsh witch-name I found the other day." 

"Hmm… Tanith Black," mused Lily. "Yeah, I like that. Well, I'll go pick up Harry from his grandparents and then Apparate to the Leaky Cauldron. Tell the others and meet me there- drinks are on me for this!" 

"All right!" cheered Sirius, who loved it whenever someone else was paying. 

"Right, Lils, I'll see you in a bit- just be careful, OK?" said James. With a nod, Lily disappeared before Monique could ask her why she and James kept looking so worried. 

'The others' were the nine other close friends of Lily, James, Monique and Sirius who had made up The Marauders all the way through Hogwarts: Remus Lupin and Minerva McGonagall, who were going out, Minerva's cousin Erin Seanderson, Milo Bones, Arabella Figg, the twins Apollo and Artemis Westhaven, Mundungus Fletcher and Peter Pettigrew, plus their 'other halves'. These included Milo's new wife of just a few months, Cara Prewett, and their year-old daughter, Susan; Artemis' current (they never lasted too long) boyfriend James Paul, a famous Quidditch player; and Apollo's long-term journalist girlfriend Jenna Michaels. Also in the group was Lily's younger sister, nineteen-year-old Rose, the spitting image of Lily except that her hair was a perfect golden blonde; she travelled all over the world modelling for the greatest wizard designers, such as Wucci and Witche&Gabbana. 

Arabella played clarinet in Devil's Touch, while Minerva played keyboard, Erin performed on bass guitar and Artemis on rhythm guitar. Monique could barely be seen behind her massive drum kit and Lily played lead guitar and sang lead as well. While 'the team', as they had become known, were all extremely close, the closest of these were Lily, Monique, Artemis, Sirius, James, Peter and Remus. The first five were naturally hare-brained Snape-haters and as such had formed an immediate and natural alliance, while Remus provided the voice of reason and Peter stopped pranks from getting too cruel; he had so often been picked on by others that he understood that pranks could seem like bullying to one who was not a member of the big group. With the others egging each other on and revelling in the relative safety of a group the size of the Marauders, jokes could hurt if allowed to be taken too far. 

*** 

Her mother and father jumped as Lily Apparated into their house in Cardiff; they had never quite got used to that particular wizarding ability. She was usually careful to Apparate to just outside their house, but today she just wanted to hold her son as quickly as she could. 

"Lily dear, what's wrong?" asked Holly immediately, seeing her middle daughter's face. Lily plucked Harry from her arms, cradling him close as she slumped down onto the comfy sofa. His bright green eyes laughed up at her, then baby-frowned when she didn't smile the way she usually did. 

"Oh, Mam," she sighed hopelessly. "There's good news and there's bad news. The good news is that Monique's pregnant and that Devil's Touch- you know, our band- has a number one in six countries at once. The bad news…" she trailed off. 

"Yes?" prompted David Evans gently. 

"James and I have been called to a meeting with Dumbledore- tonight. I think it's bad news." 

"Why? What could be wrong?" asked her father; Lily had chosen to keep her family mainly in the dark as to the war the wizarding world was fighting rather than have them worry. 

"Well, I've told you about the- the Dark Lord and all the stuff that's happening in the wizarding world right now? Well, I think Dumbledore is going to tell us that- that Lord Voldemort wants to kill James and Harry!" 

"What the-" gasped her mother. Her father was white to the lips, but he made no sound. 

"I should have told you before…" sighed Lily. "It's a long story, but it goes something like this: there is a prophecy that Lord Voldemort- the one who wants to take over- will be destroyed by the members of three families, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, working together. He only has to destroy one family to be unbeatable, and Gryffindor has the fewest relations so he's going after them first. James and his brother Michael are Gryffindor, and so Harry- Harry is too. He's already killed their parents and grandparents, and Milo's too- he's Hufflepuff." 

"But- can't somebody stop this- this monster?" spluttered her father, at last finding his voice. 

"Hundreds have tried- he's killed them," Lily answered. "Horribly. Oh Mam, Da, he's never let anyone escape before, not when he's decided to kill them!" 

"Surely that Dumbledore you're always talking about can stop him?" 

Lily shook her head. "He's trying, but it's hard, so hard… they can control people, torture people, it's so hard to know who is true to the Light and who isn't! But there is one way… it won't save James or Michael, but it _will_ save Harry… I've got to die first." 

"But- but you can't!" burst out her mother, but Lily's face was set. 

"I knew what I was getting into when I married James, Mam- I knew the risks. If it will save Harry, then I'll die. I don't want to, and I'm not saying it's the only way, Mam, but if that's what it comes down to, I'll do it. Just- if it happens, tell Harry I love him." 

"Oh Lily, Lily…" sighed her mother, hugging her tight. "Oh, my darling baby girl…" Lily could feel the tears welling up inside her like a balloon slowly blowing up inside her throat, but she choked them down. 

"Don't worry Mam, I'm not dead yet," she said, forcing optimism into her voice. "Not by a long chalk. Killed by an Englishman, indeed. Could our family stand the shame?" 

Her father's laugh sounded more like a choke. "Kindly see that it doesn't happen," he said dryly, then, as she got to her feet: "Must you go?" 

Lily nodded regretfully. "Everyone's waiting for me- and is that Petunia I see coming down the path? I don't especially want a scene right now. I'll go outside to Apparate, though." 

Petunia and Lily had been at loggerheads for years, even before Lily had left for Hogwarts, mainly because Lily and Rose had always been the clever, beautiful, athletic sisters and Petunia merely the gossipy, dizzy-headed sibling. As such, she was intensely jealous. The situation between the three sisters had not been helped by the fact that Petunia had refused to come to Lily and James' wedding, and did not invite either Lily or Rose to her own nuptials. As Lily passed her elder sister and her husband Vernon, Petunia muttered: "Weirdo." 

Lily could not resist this. "So speaks the human giraffe, mother of the animated beachball," she announced smoothly. "So you've descended into double standards, sister?" 

Dudley swung a podgy fist at Harry, who ducked sharply. Lily pulled her son out of hitting range while Petunia jiggled her baby son in her arms as Dudley set up a wail at having missed. 

"Don't worry Duddy-wuddykins, you don't know what you'd catch if you hit him," Petunia cooed, her already overlong neck elongating itself in fury at her inability to get a jibe through Lily's tough skin. "Ickle wickle Duddy-wuddykins," Lily mocked in delight. "Well, bye bye ickle-wickle Petty darling, I've a celebration to get to. I've just got six simultaneous number ones for my band! Pity all the talent in the family had to come to me and Rose, eh?" She strode past her sister and out of the house before Petunia could reply. It was probably the desire not to make too great a scene that distracted Lily as she opened the gate; she didn't scan for magic in the area the way she normally did. It came as a complete shock when six Death Eaters Apparated into the road in front of her, their eyes behind their masks greedily fixed on Harry. 

Lily managed with some difficulty to keep from yelling something short and extremely rude at the lot of them; taunting Lord Voldemort and his supporters had never been a good idea. Instead she drew her wand, doing some very quick thinking as to how to distract them away from her family, who had come to the gate to see her out. Hastily she turned to Petunia, who had by now passed Dudley to Vernon, pressing Harry into her arms. Her sister looked to be nearly hysterical, but Lily couldn't help that. Petunia tried to refuse, but the look of cold fury Lily gave her made her relent, though the way she held Harry was reminiscent of holding a bomb that was about to go off. Lily vaulted the gate, dodging a Stunning spell. 

"Only half a dozen of you?" she laughed coldly. "Is this the best your oh-so wonderful Lord could produce?" 

"Give us the child," said the leader quietly, ignoring the jibe. "Give us your son and you may go free." Lily was nearly certain she knew the voice: Lucinda Avery, an old Slytherin who'd been in the year above her at Hogwarts and almost certainly not a member of the inner Black Circle of Voldemort's Death Eaters. She thanked the gods that the Slytherin had never been too good at duelling. 

"How about I keep Harry, take down the lot of you and then go free?" Lily said lightly, her green eyes showing no fear as she back-flipped onto the garden wall to avoid the Avada Kedavra the woman sent at her; for in return for kickboxing lessons Monique had taught her friend all the gymnastics she knew. "That sounds like lots more fun!" 

"You fool," the other woman said softly. "You can never defeat the six of-" 

"_Stupefy_!" Lucinda fell to the ground at Lily's yell. 

"You were saying?" Lily drawled, purposely at her most aggravating. "Next!" 

_"Impedimenta!_" cried the other five; Lily somersaulted off the wall just in time before it exploded, hurling her body into the air. She landed on the head of the nearest Death Eater, knocking him out and leaping lightly to the ground as his body crumpled. One Death Eater didn't turn in time to see the haymaker of a kick that felled him; another lost his wand to Lily's cry of "_Expelliarmus_!" and then his consciousness to a vicious right hook, for her blood was up now and she was lethal… 
_Well you think that you can take me on _
_You must be crazy _
_There ain't a single thing you've done _
_That's gonna phase me _
_Oh but if you want to have a go _
_I just wanna let you know: _
_Get off of my back and into my game _
_Get out of my way and out of my brain _
_Get outta my face or give it your best shot _
_I think it's time you better face the facts: _
_Get off my back! _
She only took her eyes off the last two for a moment as she muttered the binding spells needed to tie the first four up, but it was enough. They closed in on Petunia, Harry, Dudley and Vernon, their wands pointed straight at them. Petunia, of course, began to scream and cry, holding out Harry to them. 

"All right, take him, just don't hurt me!" she squealed. Alerted by her sister's screams, Lily turned just in time. The triumphant Death Eaters didn't see the huge, green-eyed snowy owl blazing out of the air towards them until it was too late… 

Talons flashed as the owl hit them like a thunderbolt, driving the Death Eaters away with razor claws and knife-like beak, ripping and tearing at their heads. They stumbled hastily away, faces bleeding and yelping with the shock of her vicious onslaught. Lily transformed in mid-air, shimmering upwards into her human form and landing lightly in a crouch on the ground in front of her family as the first Death Eater prepared to Apparate. 

_You'll not escape _me _that easily,_ she thought with grim satisfaction. 

"_Nox apparitio_!" Lily yelled, taking instinctive aim. He dropped to the ground as his Apparition aborted, taking with it the larger portion of his magic. Lily whipped round, turning her wand to the last Dark wizard and ducking the green blaze of his hasty Avada Kedavra. 

"_Expelliarmus_! _Stupefy!_" 

As his wand flew away, she leapt and caught it, then bound him as he fell. Panting slightly, she turned to her sister and all but snatched baby Harry from her, giving Petunia a look of such intense scorn that the older woman shivered. 

"Well, at least now I know who to turn to protect my baby," said Lily icily, every word infused with pure hatred. "_Never_ touch him again, Petunia, or you'll think those bastards-" she jerked her head at the tied-up Dark wizards- "got no more than a li'l love tap. You got me?" 

Her sister was too petrified to do more than nod. Lily turned her attention to her infant son, rocking him gently and humming a lullaby, though Harry didn't seem at all frightened; he had never even cried out at all the bangs and yells. 

"Oh, my little one…" she whispered, lightly kissing his forehead. "Oh, you scared me…" 

There were further pops as several Ministry of Magic wizards and witches Apparated to the scene. Gesturing to her family to go safely indoors, Lily went to meet them with Harry still in her arms. A plump young witch squealed as she saw who it was. 

"L-Lily Evans! Oh my goodness, I just adore Devil's Touch, you're my favourite band! Is this Harry? Oh heavens, he's _gorgeous_!" 

Lily gave her famous easy smile. "You can hold him for a second if you like. Did you like our latest single?" 

"Oh yes, I'm just mad for the chorus- so catchy! I just bought it a few hours ago!" she gushed, trembling as she cuddled the by-now sleepy Harry for an instant before handing him back. "Oh my, I wonder- could I have your autograph?" 

"Of course," Lily answered, scribbling her signature on a fragment of parchment and revelling in playing the celebrity in front of her family, for Petunia and Vernon still lingered outside and were taking in the scene with wide eyes. "Let me see… you'll be Doris Crockford, right?" 

"You know my name? Oh, how-" but what it was Lily never got to find out, for a tall slim wizard she recognized as being Paulius McKinnon, who'd been Head Boy her first year of Hogwarts, was tapping her on the shoulder. He looked to be the leader of the group. 

"Excuse me Miss, but we need to speak to you for a moment," he told her, drawing her to one side. "Could I have a word?" 

"Yes, of course," she replied. "And call me Lily, please." 

"Well, er- Lily," he began. "What exactly happened here? What were those Death Eaters after- and were you the one who brought them down?" 

Lily took a deep breath. "I was just leaving my parents' house- they'd been looking after Harry for a few hours- when the six Death Eaters you can see Apparated out of nowhere, clearly after me and Harry. I knocked 'em all out: it was either that or let them kill the whole lot of us, and I'm the only adult here with magic. I expect they were just after me because I'm a celebrity who's spoken pretty openly against the Dark Lord, and of course Harry's father and my sister Rose are famous as well. You needn't bother to Memory-charm my lot, they all know about the wizarding world, what with two out of three daughters being witches." She wasn't about to mention her Animagus abilities: the original thirteen Marauders had sworn the most important wizarding Oath, the Fidelius Charm, to protect the information from Dumbledore and the Slytherins so even though she had Transformed right in front of the Death Eaters they wouldn't realise it. 

"Very well- Lily," he said. "Thank you very much for your services. We'll probably be in touch. I shouldn't wonder if you get an Order of Merlin for this- third class certainly, maybe even second." 

"Oh, it was nothing," she said, smiling again, this time one calculated to turn most males' knees to jelly. True to to form, Paulius flushed pink. "But how did you know about this so quickly?" 

"A friend of yours-" he consulted a small notebook- "Monique James?" Lily nodded. "She turned up in Arthur Weasley's fire a few minutes ago, saying that she was sure you were in trouble. We didn't like to take a chance and she was, er, _very_ insistent." Lily grinned, wondering exactly what Monique had threatened the Ministry workers with to get them to go to her aid. Monique herself was out of action with a recently sprained ankle playing Quidditch or she would, no doubt, have come personally- Monique liked a fight even more than Lily did. She knew exactly why her best friend had been so worried- the two of them and the Westhaven twins had spent months recently developing a necklace that allowed you to discern the location and feeling of any other wearers if you knew the correct password, all based around the Amiso charm which concerned great friendship. It had only just finished being trialled by the group, and was now worn by all their close friends in case of emergency. Lily hadn't used it intentionally, but she guessed the terror she had felt when she'd seen the two Death Eaters practically being handed Harry on a platter had over-ridden the protective barriers and sent an SOS call straight to her closest friend. 

"Well, if that's all, I'm meeting my friends in a few minutes so I'd better get going," Lily said finally. "Here are the wands I took from them, I expect you'll need them. I take it you can sort this mess out now?" 

Paulius nodded firmly. "Yes, it won't take us long. Errr… and tell your husband good luck in the England/France game tomorrow from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." 

"Thank you very much," she smiled. "I'll tell him. Take care!" With a pop, she Disapparated. 


End file.
